Episodes
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In 2005 blowouts occurred at Bangladesh’s Tengratila gas field operated by Canada’s Niko Resources Ltd. Toxins leached into the surrounding environment, devastating local habitats. Niko pled guilty to bribery charges related to Tengratila in 2011, but it had already sued Bangladesh’s government for losses at an international arbitration tribunal. What the hell is international corporate arbitration? The opaque legal wranglings of this case reveal the invisible infrastructure of international investment law, its colonial inheritances, and how companies shirk criminal liability for corporate negligence and corruption. Paul Gilbert, this episode’s host, speaks to leading Global South arbitrator and academic Muthucumuraswamy Sornarajah, legal scholar Gus van Harten and Catherine Coumans from Mining Watch Canada.
Useful Links
Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development: https://bwged.blogspot.com/
ISDS Platform: Resources for Movements: https://isds.bilaterals.org/
National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports: https://ncbd.org/
Website : https//materialcrimes.com/
Further Reading
Paul Robert Gilbert. ‘National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh,” International Development Policy, 12 June 2023.
Kamal Hossain. “Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources,” in Legal Aspects of the New International Economic Order, pp. 33-43 (London: Bloomsbury Academic Collections, 1980).
Frederico Ortino. “The Public Interest as Part of Legitimate Expectations in Investment Arbitration: Missing in Action?” in Charles Brower et al. (eds), By Peaceful Means: International Adjudication And Arbitration (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2022).
Muthucumuraswamy Sornarajah. “On Fighting for Global Justice: The role of a Third World International Lawyer,” Third World Quarterly 37:11 (2016), pp. 1972–1989.
Bio
Paul Robert Gilbert is a Senior Lecturer in International Development at the University of Sussex. This episode was made possible by those whose voices can be heard in this episode, as well as conversations with members of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development, and the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power & Ports.
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On Tothill Street, in the heart of London’s Whitehall, sits Caxton House, home to the Department for Work and Pensions. The DWP administers the UK’s welfare system, a key infrastructure of everyday life. For many, the DWP determines if they have enough money to eat, stay warm, power medical equipment - to live. For many, it has also become synonymous with suicide. In collaboration with activists and scholars Stella Dadzie, Imogen Day, John Pring, and Rick Burgess, in this episode, China Mills (from Healing Justice London) describes the grinding bureaucratic crimes committed as the DWP sought to force disabled people into work. This painful story is also one of power. We’ll hear how disabled people and people of colour have fought tirelessly to expose the true scale of this crime - and get justice.
Useful Links
*Caring for ourselves and each other when the state tells us that we don’t matter is a radical act. We hope you find these resources useful.*
Deaths by Welfare Project podcast (including BSL interpretation and captions): https://healingjusticeldn.org/deaths-by-welfare-project/
Disability News Service: https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/advice-and-information/
DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts): https://dpac.uk.net/
Welfare State violence: a feature, not a bug with Stella Dadzie, Tumu Johnson, Derica Shields & China Mills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nJNJzm53pg&t=1564s
Website : https://materialcrimes.com/
Further Reading
Deaths by Welfare Project timeline of evidence https://deathsbywelfare.org/
China Mills and John Pring. “Weaponising Time in the War on Welfare: Slow Violence and Deaths of Disabled People within the UK's Social Security System,” Critical Social Policy 44:1 (2024), pp. 129-149.
China Mills. “For as Long as the DWP has been Killing People, Disabled Activists have been Fighting Back,” 26 November 2021, https://novaramedia.com/2021/11/26/for-as-long-as-the-dwp-has-been-killing-people-disabled-activists-have-been-fighting-back/
Bio
China Mills is Head of Research at Healing Justice Ldn and leads the Deaths by Welfare project, investigating deaths of disabled people linked to welfare reform and welfare state violence.
Healing Justice Ldn works for and with communities surviving state and systemic oppression, building towards futures rooted in dignity, safety and belonging. Their work is rooted in disability justice, aiming to build cross-disability and cross-movement solidarity, and create life-affirming systems with disabled people at their heart.
Ellen Clifford. The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe (London: Bloomsbury, 2022).
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Missing episodes?
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On New Year’s Eve 2019, a drive-by shooting took place in the popular Johannesburg suburb of Melville. Two people were killed and six injured in this shocking and as-yet-unsolved case. Almost unheard-of in this crime-ridden city, the drive-by horrified local communities, provoking surging anxiety in everyone from middle class home- and business owners to student renters and informal workers. To unravel the “true crime” beneath the sensational headlines, Nicky Falkof speaks with Antonette Gouws, who was present at the drive-by, as well as local “character,” Danny Nunes, and filmmaker and academic, Dylan Vally. As we’ll hear in this episode, these unsolved murders expose the convenient fictions of Melville’s multilateral security infrastructure. Local sleuthing about the drive-by also unveils long-held beliefs about race, corruption, violence, insecurity and belonging in this complicated city.
Useful Links
Sophiatown Arts Akademy: https://www.instagram.com/sophiatownartsakademy/
Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa: https://www.seri-sa.org/
Sticky Situations: https://stickysituations.org/
Dlala Nje: https://www.dlalanje.org/about
website : https://materialcrimes.com/
Further Reading
Zimitri Erasmus. Race Otherwise: Forging a New Humanism for South Africa (Johannesburg: Wits Press, 2017).
Nicky Falkof and Cobus van Staden (eds). Anxious Joburg: The Inner Lives of a Global South City (Johannesburg: Wits Press, 2020).
Martin J. Murray. City of Extremes: The Spatial Politics of Johannesburg (Durham: Duke UP, 2011).
Tanya Zack and Mark Lewis, Wake Up, This is Joburg! (Durham: Duke UP, 2023).
Bio
Nicky Falkof is an Associate Professor of Media Studies at Wits University in Johannesburg. She is the author of The End of Whiteness: Satanism and Family Murder In Late Apartheid South Africa (2017) and Worrier State: Risk, Anxiety and Moral Panic in South Africa (2022), and co-editor of Anxious Joburg: The Inner Lives of a Global South City (2020) and Intimacy & Injury: In the Wake of #MeToo in India and South Africa (2022).
Voiceovers: Nkululeko Sibiya
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In this episode series producers - Chantelle Lewis, Maia Holterman-Entwistle, Sharri Plonski and the inimitable George ‘Adders’ Ofori-Addo - reflect on the evolution of season two of ‘ Material Crimes.’ We discuss the incredible work of contributors, the arc of infrastructural violence across the episodes and the powerful struggles at the centre of these stories. Season two delves even deeper into the “true crimes” of infrastructure, with upcoming episodes on both the visible, tangible violence of military complexes, broken dams and drive-by shootings and the more insidious yet no less deadly infrastructural violence of bureaucratic welfare, environmental degradation and the complex web of international arbitration. We also discuss how Palestine haunts this season, asking what it means to produce creative and collaborative work during the ongoing genocide and how this year of acute traumas has shaped our thinking about Material Crimes.
Useful Links https://materialcrimes.com/
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Material Crimes returns with a brand new series.
Material Crimes is brought to you by Surviving Society Productions.
Executively Produced by
Dr Chantelle Jessica Lewis
George Ofori - Addo
Sharri Plonski
Maia Holtermann-Entwistle
Design by
Evelyn Miller
Edited by
George Ofori - Addo
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In this episode of Surviving Society, in collaboration with the Identities Podcast, Ala Sirriyeh and Aaron Winter discuss their thoughts and experiences in the 10 months since 7 October and what has occurred in Gaza and globally, including on UK university campuses, as colleagues and friends in an ongoing dialogue, scholars and educators working on racism and refugees, co-founders of Sociologists in Solidarity with Palestinians (SISP), and in relation to their identities as a Palestinian and Jew.
Ala is a British Palestinian sociologist of migration with a primary focus on child and youth migration and activism. Her first monograph Inhabiting Borders, Routes Home: Youth, Gender, Asylum (Routledge 2013) explore refugee young women's experiences of home in the context of their transitions to adulthood. Her second monograph, The Politics of Compassion: Immigration and Asylum Policy (Bristol University Press, 2018) explored border controls and resistance in Britain, the US and Australia, investigating the central and nuanced role of emotions in this context. She is currently a British Academy Mid-Career Fellow and beginning her project titled Britain’s Child Migrants: Nation and Connected Migrations.
She is a member of the Sociologists in Solidarity with Palestinians (SISP) collective.
SISP Statements – Sociologists In Solidarity with Palestinians (wordpress.com)
Some recent publications:
Sirriyeh, A. (2024, June 11). ‘Why are the soldiers hurting Palestinian children?’: Parenthood, identity and culture during genocide [Online]. The Sociological Review Magazine. https://doi.org/10.51428/tsr.xfsb6417
Sirriyeh, A. (2023) Emotions and emotional reflexivity in undocumented migrant youth activism, The Sociological Review, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00380261231173753.
Aaron Winter is Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Director of the Centre for Alternatives to Social and Economic Inequalities (CASEI) at Lancaster University. His research is on the far right focusing on racism, terrorism and mainstreaming. He is co-editor of Historical Perspectives on Organized Crime and Terrorism (Routledge 2018), Researching the Far Right: Theory, Method and Practice (Routledge 2020), and co-author, with Aurelien Mondon, of Reactionary Democracy: How Racism and the Populist Far Right Became Mainstream (Verso 2020). He has also published in the Ethnic and Racial Studies, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, Journal of Political Ideologies, Sociological Research Online and Women and Performance, as well as OpenDemocracy, The Independent, Novara Media and Jacobin. and has been interviewed by BBC. LBC, NBC, Times Radio, France24, Al Jazeera, The Times, NewStatesman, Wired, Vice, HuffPost, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Kathimerini and the Financial Times. He is co-editor of the journal Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power and the MUP series Racism, Resistance and Social Change, and on the editorial board of Ethnic and Racial Studies and the organising committee of the Reactionary Politics Research Network.
Aaron’s selected writing on Gaza, anti-zionism, antisemitism and racism
Israel-Palestine: Conflating antisemitism and anti-zionism emboldens the far right | openDemocracy
Briefing: Islamophobia and Antisemitism – Community Policy Forum
Suella Braverman’s Resignation Could Be the Best Thing That Ever Happened to the Far Right | Novara Media
On Gary Lineker’s tweet, the politics of comparison and denial of racism (identitiesjournal.com)
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In the final episode of the series, Keir joined us to talk about the Racial Bias and the Bench report which explored the negative racial attitudes and practices in the justice system in England and Wales.
Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK.
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/discover/briefings/judiciary/
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/
https://x.com/ChantelleJLewis/status/1824018479437029863
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Recorded from the Walthamstow anti-fascist response 7th August 2024, Chantelle reflects on the presence of love and solidarity , amongst the crowd of 10,000 people.
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Shamim Miah and Ajmal Hussain join us to interview Claire about returning to her research on Muslim men and the construction of the Asian Gang in Britain over 20 years on. This episodes looks at changing identities of the original participants as they transition into adulthood in the context of the War on Terror, 'grooming gangs' and increased Islamophobia in Britain.
Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK.
Links:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/asian-gang-revisited-9781350384132/
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/
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In this episode, Remi joined us to discuss the 'Whose campus, whose security?' report which highlights students’ views on, and experiences with, security services and police on UK university campuses.
*please note that this episode was recorded before the latest global student uprisings (2024)
Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK.
Links:
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/discover/briefings/whose-campus/
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/
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In this episode we hear from James and Laia on ethnic inequalities in health. We look back on what happened during COVID-19 and the racisms prevalent across the impacts and responses from governments
Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK.
Links:
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/research/projects/evens/
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/
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We talk to Dharmi about ethnic inequalities in mental health service in Britain. Dharmi explores the impact of racism, austerity and COVID-19 for access to support, advice and care.
Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK.
Links:
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk
https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/dharmi.kapadia
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Adam returned to the studio to explore the history of Black resistance to British policing in Britain. Adam connects how global resistance to imperial cultures from the 20th century have helped to shape contemporary activist movements like Black Lives Matter.
Welcome to this collaborative two-part series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity at the University of Manchester. In these episodes we explore the research conducted at the centre focused on ethnic, racial and religious inequalities in the UK.
Links:
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526143938/
https://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/
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Surviving Society returns with a second collaborative series with the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity based at the University of Manchester, also known as CODE.
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Sarah discusses “development”, gender, and food systems, as well as talks about her work as an agroecologist who is directly working with farmers to build community and promote regenerative agriculture.
Link: https://www.sarahbharath.com/
These episodes feature activists and scholars who are on the frontlines of grassroots struggles for dignity, justice, and self-determination in the Caribbean. Rooted in a convivial spirit of creative resistance and collective healing, each guest shares insights into the region’s lasting legacies of colonialism as a means of confronting and ultimately ending the enduring aftermaths of empire. Guest co-producers, Levi Gahman, Johannah-Rae Reyes, Adaeze Greenidge
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Pablo gives an overview of the land rights victory won by the Maya people in the Caribbean Court of Justice, Indigenous governance, and the complexities of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/mayaleadersofsouthernbelize/?locale=en_GB
These episodes feature activists and scholars who are on the frontlines of grassroots struggles for dignity, justice, and self-determination in the Caribbean. Rooted in a convivial spirit of creative resistance and collective healing, each guest shares insights into the region’s lasting legacies of colonialism as a means of confronting and ultimately ending the enduring aftermaths of empire.Guest co-producers, Levi Gahman, Johannah-Rae Reyes, Adaeze Greenidge
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In this episode, Kim shares her research on Garifuna resistance to land privatisation and dispossession in Honduras. The conversation also illustrates the significance of ancestral memory and cultural survival.
Link: https://www.escr-net.org/member/organizacion-fraternal-negra-hondurena-ofraneh
These episodes feature activists and scholars who are on the frontlines of grassroots struggles for dignity, justice, and self-determination in the Caribbean. Rooted in a convivial spirit of creative resistance and collective healing, each guest shares insights into the region’s lasting legacies of colonialism as a means of confronting and ultimately ending the enduring aftermaths of empire.Guest co-producers, Levi Gahman, Johannah-Rae Reyes, Adaeze Greenidge
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Ian provides an overview of his research/activism on the realities and challenges of Deaf people in the Caribbean. He also provides insight into the colonial politics of sign language.
Link: https://newsday.co.tt/2023/12/30/deaf-activist-ian-dhanoola-wins-hard-head-award/
These episodes feature activists and scholars who are on the frontlines of grassroots struggles for dignity, justice, and self-determination in the Caribbean. Rooted in a convivial spirit of creative resistance and collective healing, each guest shares insights into the region’s lasting legacies of colonialism as a means of confronting and ultimately ending the enduring aftermaths of empire. Guest co-producers, Levi Gahman, Johannah-Rae Reyes, Adaeze Greenidge
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In this episode, Tivia discusses her research with migrant women on borders and (non)belonging in the Caribbean, as well as the power relations and political economy of intra-regional movement.
Link: https://www.tiviacollins.com/
These episodes feature activists and scholars who are on the frontlines of grassroots struggles for dignity, justice, and self-determination in the Caribbean. Rooted in a convivial spirit of creative resistance and collective healing, each guest shares insights into the region’s lasting legacies of colonialism as a means of confronting and ultimately ending the enduring aftermaths of empire.Guest co-producers, Levi Gahman, Johannah-Rae Reyes, Adaeze Greenidge
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